this really was inevitable
by etotheswan
Summary: Biology and eyebrows and superpowers. Part 4 of 4 of the series: It Wasn't Supposed to be This Way


She cancels dinner on Wednesday morning and it crushes you. You know you need to stop letting things that other people do dampen your spirits, but it's _her._ And she has never canceled on you.

And she does it via text message.

Typically a cancellation via text isn't that big of a deal, but you haven't talked to her since last night when she texted you and said Robin had moved out and that Roland cried and it broke your _fucking_ heart. You're the reason that little boy cried. You laid on your bed, your legs sprawled out, your phone lying on your chest, crying. Because you made a little kid cry. You had texted back that this was all your fault and her the words she sent you made your heart skip a beat and you read it three times.

_Emma, this really was inevitable. This. You. Me. Us. This was inevitable. _

You tell Henry when he gets off of school. He is sitting on a stool, eating a bowl of cereal, his afternoon snack, and god, he's getting so big. "So, your mom canceled on us," you say as you bite into an apple. The crunch of it is loud and the juice almost runs down your chin and for half a second you fucking get why Regina enjoys apples so much.

"What? She did?"

"Yeah, this morning."

He looks at you over a spoonful of Lucky Charms, an eyebrow arched to his hairline and if you didn't know it was biologically impossible, you'd think he got that gene from his mother. "What'd you do?" he asks, his mouth full of magical rainbow marshmallows.

You let out a huff and put an arm across your stomach and really? Why is it that you are the one that did something wrong? This is crap! "Uh, I didn't do anything wrong, kid."

"Well, you're normally the one that does something wrong," he says, laughing a little at the end. "Like that one time when you let Hook watch me and then dropped me off late and she didn't talk to you for like, a week?"

"Oh man, that was ONE time," you reply while biting into the apple. Your voice is muffled and he laughs even harder and your heart swells and swells and swells. His laughter grounds you, reminds you of all the shit you've gone through, makes you happy that you're _here._

Henry slurps up the rest of the milk in his bowl and then sets the bowl down on the countertop. His eyes are down, his spoon sitting in the bowl, his hands fidgeting slightly. And you think to yourself that, biology or not, he definitely gets _that_ from her.

"What?" you ask. You know he wants to say something and sometimes, all it takes is a gentle nudge from you to open his floodgates.

"I'm worried about her, ma." Henry looks up through his eyelashes at you and your heart almost breaks.

"Henry," you start, but he shakes his head and you stop. You look at him and wait because you know when he decides to confide in you, you let him, regardless of what he's going to say.

He takes a deep breath, lets it out and then glances over each shoulder, checking to make sure no one is listening, which makes you smile because you're _alone_ in what used to be your parents' loft (before they moved to have more room for the baby, which still is something you aren't used to, but whatever) and he _knows_ that. His eyes finally land on yours and when he opens his mouth to speak, you are reminded of a time when he didn't remember all of this and Regina was just Madame Mayor and you were torn between wanting to tell him because how could you keep him from his _mom _and wanting to protect him because _she was the evil queen_.

"I know about her and Robin," he finally says, breaking you out of your thoughts and memories.

"Um, what about her and Robin?" You voice cracks a little and, dammit, he notices. As well as you know him, he knows you just as well. And makes sure to tell you that on more than one occasion.

"Ma," he says with a gentle voice. "I'm not stupid. I mean, I talked to her last night on the phone and she wasn't… herself… but she wasn't sad and she wasn't mad, but… I dunno. I dunno know how to describe it." Henry takes a moment to collect his thoughts and you love him for that. He's always very careful with his words these days and for more reasons than the obvious, you're happy that he was raised by Regina and followed her rules and learned her manners. "She said Robin was moving out with Roland and that it was okay, but I just got the feeling that something else was going on."

"Henry," you start again, and he immediately cuts you off and marches on.

"I just, you _know_ her and sometimes when she's sad and doesn't tell us then she… I just… I don't want her to do something stupid, ma. I don't want her to do something _stupid_." He finishes his thoughts and then he sits there, looking at you, with those eyes that are yours and that hair that is way too long and that chin with its small cleft. "Ya know, I know I'm like, still a kid or whatever, but I never thought when I went to get you and brought you back here that I would _ever_ love her so much and need her so much, but," he pauses and his rapidly deepening voice cracks slightly, "I do not ever want to lose her again. I don't want to lose her."

It's those words that propel you across the kitchen, around the counter and over to him, your arms pulling him close to your chest. You kiss his messy hair and you hear him sniffle against your cream turtleneck sweater and you feel his hands on your back and goddammit you're _happy. _Not because he's crying, but because he _loves_ Regina and that's all she ever wanted and maybe, just maybe, this - Henry and her and _you _- can be the happy ending she cursed an entire land to find.

"You're not going to lose her again, kid," you say against his hair that smells a little like teenager and a lot like rosemary and mint. "I promise."

"Ma?" His voice is muffled by your sweater and he turns his head slightly.

"Hmm?"

"You love her, don't you?"

There's a moment when you panic, when your stomach falls to your knees and your heart flies into your throat. Should you lie and tell him no? Of course you don't love Regina Mills. That would be preposterous and crazy and why in the world would the lamb lie down with the lion? But then you remember that you're the _savior_. And maybe he didn't get the eyebrow raise biologically from Regina, but your superpower could totally be biological and you don't want to start testing it now. You pull a deep breath of rosemary and mint into your nose and you smile against his brown hair and you say so so so softly, "More than anything."

"I know," he responds and he holds onto you a little tighter before he loosens his grip and then pulls away from you. He does it in such a way that doesn't upset you, but reminds you that he's a teenager and all of that was probably as much hugging as he'll allow for a while.

After you put his dish in the sink and wipe the counter off, he goes over to the couch and plops down, picking up a book and letting out a belch. You shake your head because the moment has passed, hasn't it?

You feel your phone vibrate in your back pocket, so you slip it out, slide your finger across the screen and before you know it, you're smiling.

_I should have never canceled dinner. Can I still come over? _

After you read it again and smile and smile and smile, you type out, _of course, come over whenever you're ready. _

When you look up at Henry he's looking at his own phone. "She changed her mind," he says, holding up his phone and smiling with the grin that for the longest time you thought he only reserved for you.

You're okay with the fact that it's for both Regina _and_ you.

_After all, this really was inevitable. _


End file.
